Top trends for HR leaders to watch in 2017

From Millennials to Generation Z

Over the past few years, HR leaders have been talking about Millennials and how to attract and retain them. Well, it is time to talk about Generation Z, which is turning 21-23 this year and is actively entering the workforce as interns and entry-level employees. HR professionals should prepare themselves for this new generation, who will begin replacing Millennials in their roles. Will they bring something fundamentally different to the workplace? That will be an interesting question to answer this year. Another good question to ask yourself is how to prepare Millennials to lead and manage this new demographic.

Company culture is no longer an option, it’s a must-have

In the past, if company culture was a fancy word used by start-up CEOs to attract top talents, now it is becoming a necessity for all companies. The majority of ugly corporate scandals that happened last year have been attributed, in one way or another, to poor work culture. Company culture should shift from posters on the wall to day-to-day practices. While it improves the overall performance, employee engagement and retention, it also has an enormous effect on work ethics. It becomes essential for employees to use company culture as a guidance in the decision-making process. Companies of all sizes should start investing more in their culture as well as cultural training.

Technology is shaping L&D

Technology is quickly becoming an important tool, not only to facilitate HR processes but also to stoke interest and engagement within the workforce. Technology offers a fresh approach to corporate training and how it’s done. HR leaders should be open to innovation, such as personalised training plans, gamification and virtual reality. It becomes more obvious for organisations that implementing expensive tech into their processes is not the best way to go. Thus, many companies are looking for start-ups that can implement training programs with less hassle and better results. Tech start-ups are now providing a variety of training services from leadership programs to mobile business language learning courses.

The once-a-year performance review doesn’t work anymore

As the demographic of the workforce changes, HR leaders should reconsider their approach to giving feedback to employees. If older generations preferred formal performance reviews, Millennials are more inclined to on-the-spot recognitions. How will this affect performance bonuses? The changes in performance management and the disappearance of annual performance reviews will have an impact on the way employees receive bonuses. Some businesses are now using peer-to-peer feedback, more regular feedback and adherence to company values for measuring performance.

Using agile approach to hire and train the workforce

An agile approach is very popular within the tech industry, and it is now expanding to all other areas, including HR and L&D. Companies should use the agile approach to make it easier for employees to find, rate, tag, and consume learning. Agile mentality should be accompanied by data analytics and design thinking. HR professionals should see their job as learning curators rather than content creators.

Corporate language training

In an increasingly global world, the ability to communicate in multiple languages is becoming an imperative for the successful growth of any business. Developing an organisation-wide language learning strategy is key to breaking down communication barriers and building a truly global and collaborative organisation. There are few companies that turn language learning into a great experience for your employees.

At busuu, we are confident that our methodology helps employees learn new languages and understand cultures with our award-winning mobile courses. busuu is a language learning app with over 80 million users worldwide. We provide high-quality language courses created by our team of language experts and a social network to allow practice with native speakers.